Court rejects appeal on 20-year license revocation

The revocation came with a long prison term that Robert E. Richardson, 36, received for killing two young boys in a drunken crash on Portage Glacier Road in July 2000.

Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton sentenced Richardson to 28 years in prison, with 15 years suspended, after Richardson pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and assault. The judge also revoked Richardson's driving license for 20 years.

Richardson didn't challenge his prison sentence, but his lawyer argued in the appeal that the license revocation was excessive.

The appeals court noted that the revocation began on the date of the crash, and so much of the revocation period will likely have passed by the time Richardson gets out of prison.

The court said the facts of the case were particularly serious and justified the long revocation to protect the public. The ruling notes that Richardson was warned twice just before the crash that he was too drunk to drive.

Richardson's blood alcohol level was .175, well above the legal limit of .10 at that time. The legal limit has since been lowered to .8 percent.

Richardson admitted he was an alcoholic, but said he had been sober for 12 years before drinking on the day of the crash.

The two young boys who died in the crash were Kevin D. Blake, 15, of Tatitlek and Kenneth Kramer, 11, of Wasilla. Their grandparents, David Glasen, 61, and Patsy Glasen, 57, both of Tatitlek, suffered major injuries. The group was on the way to Whittier to go fishing.